HB 0789 2003
   
1 CHAMBER ACTION
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6          The Committee on Transportation recommends the following:
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8          Committee Substitute
9          Remove the entire bill and insert:
10 A bill to be entitled
11          An act relating to specialty license plates; amending ss.
12    320.08056 and 320.08058, F.S.; creating the Stop Heart
13    Disease license plate; providing for distribution to the
14    Florida Heart Research Foundation, Inc., of annual use
15    fees received from the sale of such plates; providing an
16    effective date.
17         
18          WHEREAS, heart disease is the leading cause of death and
19    disability in this country and in the State of Florida, claiming
20    the lives of more than 2,600 Americans every day, an average of
21    one death every 33 seconds, and cardiovascular disease accounts
22    for over 40 percent of all deaths, claiming more lives each year
23    than the next seven leading causes of death combined, and
24          WHEREAS, more than 61 million Americans suffer from
25    cardiovascular disease, including high blood pressure, coronary
26    heart disease, stroke, congestive heart failure, and other
27    conditions, and
28          WHEREAS, 25 percent of males and 38 percent of females who
29    experience a heart attack die within 1 year, and
30          WHEREAS, 50 percent of men and 63 percent of women who die
31    of sudden cardiac death experience no previous symptoms of
32    coronary heart disease, and
33          WHEREAS, cardiovascular disease takes an astonishing toll
34    on the economy through health care costs, lost work days, and
35    lowered productivity, which costs are estimated to reach $330
36    billion in 2002, and
37          WHEREAS, almost 20 percent of all Social Security
38    disability payments are made to disabled Americans with heart
39    disease, and
40          WHEREAS, men and women are at equal risk for cardiovascular
41    disease and are also affected as husbands, wives, fathers,
42    mothers, brothers, sisters, children, and friends of people
43    suffering from cardiovascular disease, and
44          WHEREAS, in Florida, there will be over 65,000 deaths per
45    year from cardiovascular disease, and hospitalization costs to
46    care for Floridians with cardiovascular disease will top $4.4
47    billion per year, and
48          WHEREAS, the only hope of ending this disease is through
49    research aimed at discovering its cause, its cure, and, most
50    importantly, its prevention, and
51          WHEREAS, the Florida Heart Research Foundation, Inc., was
52    developed for cardiovascular research, education, and prevention
53    programs throughout the State of Florida, NOW, THEREFORE,
54         
55          Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
56         
57          Section 1. Paragraph (mm) is added to subsection (4) of
58    section 320.08056, Florida Statutes, to read:
59          320.08056 Specialty license plates.--
60          (4) The following license plate annual use fees shall be
61    collected for the appropriate specialty license plates:
62          (mm) Stop Heart Disease license plate, $25.
63          Section 2. Subsection (39) is added to section 320.08058,
64    Florida Statutes, to read:
65          320.08058 Specialty license plates.--
66          (39) STOP HEART DISEASE LICENSE PLATES.--
67          (a) The department shall develop a Stop Heart Disease
68    license plate as provided in this section. Stop Heart Disease
69    license plates must bear the colors and design approved by the
70    department. The plate shall be designed to include a red, white,
71    and blue background with a slanted heart shape in the middle of
72    the plate. The word "Florida" shall appear at the top of the
73    plate in yellow outlined in black, and the words "Stop Heart
74    Disease" shall appear at the bottom of the plate in yellow.
75          (b) The department shall remit the proceeds of the annual
76    use fee to the Florida Heart Research Foundation, Inc. The first
77    $80,000 of the use fee given to the Florida Heart Research
78    Foundation, Inc., shall be used to pay startup costs, including
79    costs incurred developing and issuing the plates. Thereafter,
80    the Florida Heart Research Foundation, Inc., shall provide for a
81    peer review grant solicitation and award process to distribute
82    fees for cardiovascular disease research, education, and
83    prevention within the state and shall make the funds available
84    for any one or more of the following:
85          1. Quality research to pursue top quality cardiovascular
86    research that will further understanding of heart disease and
87    its cause, treatment, cure, and prevention. Accepted projects
88    must conform to the highest standards of scientific research, be
89    efficiently organized, and report updates continually to ensure
90    research credibility and excellence.
91          2. Heart disease prevention programs to provide
92    cardiovascular screenings to state residents.
93          3. Educational programs to offer educational programs,
94    literature, seminars, or speakers for both clinicians and lay
95    people so that the latest risk factors, technologies,
96    treatments, methodologies, protocols, and preventive measures
97    are well known and used in the state.
98          (c) In the first year in which the plate is issued, no
99    more than 25 percent of the fees collected may be used for
100    administrative costs directly associated with the operation of
101    the Florida Heart Research Foundation, Inc., and marketing and
102    promotion of the Stop Heart Disease license plate. In the second
103    and subsequent years in which the plate is sold, no more than 20
104    percent of the fees collected may be used for administrative
105    costs directly associated with the operation of the Florida
106    Heart Research Foundation, Inc., and marketing and promotion of
107    the Stop Heart Disease license plate.
108          Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2003.